Thanks for posting the scans, Phil. Saved them in my 348 article folder. :)
You're welcome! Back in those pre-internet days I used to buy every car magazine that had anything Ferrari in them and have kept them all ever since. It's interesting to read how excited the motoring press were about the 348 when it first came out and how they raved about how much of an improvement it was over the 328. Then they waxed lyrical about the 348's styling, saying how modern it looked and how it was destined to age well, declaring the 348 to be a guaranteed future classic! How things changed just a few years later! I've got a couple more articles from "back in the day" that I'll scan in for your collection when I get the chance!
Same here. Still have stacks of magazines around that I need to go through to see what 348 articles I can find. Up until I started seriously shopping for one, I had no idea that the 348s reputation had taken such a hit over the years, since the early tests were so favorable. I had a friend with an early '91 car (before any of the suspension updates) that was incredibly well set up for track use. I drove that car very hard for years and never experienced any of the diabolical handling characteristics that have been attributed to the 348. In fact, it was chasing down F40s and 512TRs in that car that made me fall in love with 348s. I've driven quite a few over the years and one in particular was scary bad, but it was obviously due to alignment and condition. However, most I've experienced have been outstanding, and I can say without doubt that their reputation for evil handling characteristics is totally unfounded as long as they are set up properly. Scans of additional articles would be most appreciated. I keep thinking we need a database of them somewhere. Im sure there was much written about the 348 that Ive never seen due to the difficulty of getting non-US car publications here. Cheers, ///Mike
I think I may be able to shed some light... All the early cars were either tb or ts. It wasn't until later in the production run that European market cars got the GTB/GTS designations. I believe the plenum on that car is reflective of a later car. Without a chassis number, it is really tough to figure what and when it was made. My old car was...... 82589. It was an '89. The 32nd car of the run. The 17th ts and the 5th US car. In order to be a 'pre-production car', it would need a chassis number to reflect that.
I doubt the car is anything but a tb that has a H-block "Twinkie" plenum intake on it. Either that or it had an H-block transplanted from a wrecked car. Does it have an actual H-block, does it have a spider gearbox with the lower ratios, does it have the later hubs with the cv joints that run through the hub, does it have the later spider mapping in the ecu that raised the rev limiter, where is the chrome shift knob, how about the rubber boot on the shift lever under the gate, what is the chassis number and does it match the year of manufacture of the GTB/GTS, how about the casting stamps on the block and gear box do they match the year of a GTB, is it missing check engine light push buttons, does it have over the shoulder seatbelts, what kind of fuel tank does it have in it, what fuel pressure regulator, what fuel filter, what about the evap system is there a charcoal canister, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera??????????? Loads and loads of unanswered questions about the car, and no way for any of us to verify them.
The first car in this thread claims to be a pre-production 348 GTB not a pre-production 348 TB/TS so it will have the later plenum fitted. The advert was marketing the car as supposedly being something more special than every other 348 GTB on the basis that it was delivered months before the 348 GTB's were being officially delivered to customers, and so the sellers were claiming it to be a "pre-production" car that had to have a "348 TB" badge fitted. As far as I'm concerned, this is just marketing nonsense! - There's nothing extra special about this GTB, it was just the first production car delivered (albeit possibly early). It has a "TB" badge fitted rather than a "GTB" - So what? Any 348 GTB owner could slap a "TB" badge on their car and claim it to be a "pre-production" car on that basis. The second car mentioned claims to be a prototype 348 and the very first made, but has a build date of 1990. So if that claim is true, where the Hell did "AUTOCAR & Motor" get a RHD 348 TS for their 20th September 1989 issue that I've posted, and what is the LHD 348 TB also shown being driven in the same article? You yourself have a 1989 348, so how can this 1990 build-date car be the first made? Again, as far as I can see, this "1990 pre-production/prototype" 348 is actually just a standard 1990 production car that is being advertised as being something far more special than it really is! Anyway, forget all of that and check out this unique opportunity!: Who would like to buy my one-off 1990 pre-production Ferrari 355 GTS prototype? This car was so secret that not only did Ferrari fit it with a 348 TS badge on the engine cover, they also fitted a 348 interior, 348 mechanicals including engine, gearbox and suspension, 348 front and rear bumpers, 348 engine cover, 348 side strakes, 348 rear lights complete with grille cover, 348 exhaust system and more. In fact, in order to disguise the car so that even the most expert of Ferrari spotters couldn't tell what it really was, Ferrari made the car RHD, fitted the battery in the rear end behind the engine and even gave the car a 348 VIN number! (show Me another 355 with that claim to fame!). So what was this car used for by Ferrari? It's My understanding that Ferrari used this very car to test the basic 355 body shape in the real World, especially the front wings, the front trunk lid (modified to replicate the 348's front trunk lid perfectly!), the door shells, all of the glass area's, the rear buttresses and the rear quarter panels. In addition to this, the car was also used to test the 355's pop up headlight pods in the real World. The major benefit of this car is that it looks exactly like a 1990 348 TS! (Ferrari went to extraordinary lengths to make this car look like every other 1990 348 TS! - Honestly, you cannot tell them apart!), and it drives just like a 1990 348 TS too! Obviously being such a unique car it comes with a slight premium over a standard production car, I'm looking for offers @ £200,000 [@$308,000], but where else can you buy a 355 GTS that so perfectly replicates the 348? (NOTE: Some of the details of My "348/355 prototype" may not be accurate in any way, shape or form! )
Try with the assembly number: 14155. Or even easier: On the windows we can also see as the last digits of its VIN number: 96973CVV According with my information, the production cycle 1993-1994 of the model 348 GTB (Gran Turismo Berlinetta) had the chassis numbers: 96655-99697. So, the 96973 is among these chassis numbers and it shows that this is a real 348 GTB, although it does not look like such as it is the first one ... It seems to be just a tall tale to make this unit more special or even to increase the final price.
There no doubt the 'GTB' is in spectacular condition. The ad says 'sold', so at least one person is smitten. I think they will have a truly great car to appreciate - if only they DRIVE it!! This may have been the first GTB to be sold into Germany and in true Ferrari fashion, they probably wanted to use there supply of TB badges before using the new GTB ones!!!! It seems to have all the GTB bits and pieces so definitely a 'real' one. Perhaps the new owner will venture onto Ferrarichat???? The early No 1 pre-production car worries me a little. This is the car that was auctioned by Coys in Germany a few weeks ago. Coys have a great reputation so I'm sure they did a complete provenance check on the car. However, they are incredibly bad at posting their achieved prices. Suffice it to say that it's now being peddled in Holland at 129,950 Euro - That's £95,000 or best part of $150,000!!!!! If it is a real pre-production car, the value might be right, bearing in mind the low mileage. However, I thought that the early cars had quite flat seats, unlike the seats in this car. They also has no black paint (i.e. body color) under the wiper blades and that can't be seen in the photos. And any pre-production car would have been a 1989 car. Without VIN numbers - who knows, but it just doesn't seem to stack up IMHO.
The 348GTB to sale is the #96973. This is not a pre-production's car. The first 348GTb I know is #96655 and it's 18 GTb before this #96973 : 96655, 96656, 96670, 96671, 96844, etc..... I read on this tread : F119H with the Motronic 2.7. But only the 348 product during 89 and 90 are equipped with the 2.5. The 2.7 is coming in the beginning of 91. The first 348b 2.7 is 86406, and the first ts is 86407. After 86407, some 348 have the 2.5, but it'a little number of cars. The last 348 I know with 2.5 is the #87337.
On the 1990 "pre-production" 348 TB, I found this advert on Pistonheads : Used 1989 Ferrari 348 for sale in Surrey | Pistonheads which quotes the VIN number as being: ZFFKA35B000079908. Running this VIN through a VIN decoder brings up this information (From Red Headed - VIN Decoder ) : VIN Decoder Results for: ZFFKA35B000079908 Digit 1-3 Make ZFF World Manufacturer Identifier: Italy, Ferrari, Ferrari Digit 4 Engine K Engine type F119D(L)Related models 348 tb/s, Mondial t (Cabr) Remarks Euro version Digit 5 Safety System A 3-point inertia belts with auto retractors for front Digit 6-7 Model 35 348 tb Digit 8 Market B Left-Hand Drive, Europe Digit 9 Check Digit 0 The check digit is correct: "0" for markets which do not use a check digit. Digit 10 Model Year 0 The model year is correct: "0" for markets which do not use the model year. Digit 11 Plant 0 Maranello Digit 12-17 Serialnumber 079908 Serialnumber 79908. WARNING: The given number does not fit in the known ranges for this specific model. The warning at the end is interesting as it does seem to indicate that this is a pre-production car (it cannot be chassis No.1 though as that was made in 1947!).
